


Slander, Libel, and Blasphemy

by jane_fucking_seymour



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jane_fucking_seymour/pseuds/jane_fucking_seymour
Summary: Jane is angry at an article vilifying Edward.  She goes to the one person that understands more than anyone.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 75





	Slander, Libel, and Blasphemy

Jane was told not to read this article. 

That’s exactly what Katherine had said to her, having stormed into Cathy’s room the night before, angrily yelling about things that Jane couldn’t really hear thanks to the other sounds of the flat and surrounding area. She did, however, hear “how could they say that about Edward?,” which made Jane more than curious about what was going on. 

She had tried to talk to Kat about it, but the girl refused to say anything, winded from her yelling at Cathy. Instead, she had asked to go downstairs, to be excused from the conversation. Jane obviously let her, though it did not quell her worry. 

Later that night, Katherine had “wandered” into the living room, curled up to Jane, and went on and on about how brilliant Edward was, how he reminded Kat of Jane, of how she can see his mother in him now that she’s met her. 

It’s all but confirmed that she needed to find whatever Katherine had read. 

She goes to her number one suspect: Catherine Parr. Before she even opens her mouth, Cathy gives her a sympathetic smile and a magazine. 

“Page 74,” Cathy says. “I won’t deny you knowledge, but...” she frowns. “It’s rough. And, from my personal experience, I can say that she’s wrong.”

Jane simply nods silently and moves away, back to the living room, where it was safe from Katherine’s observant gaze and away from anyone that could possibly hear her, if she kept her voice down at least. 

She takes a deep breath, opens the page to 74, and her heart instantly shatters. 

The title:

“Edward Could Have Been Worse Than His Father If He Had Lived Long Enough”

Jane sucks in a deep breath, tears already starting to form. She reads word after word, paragraph after paragraph, the details of the argument fueling a rage inside of her that she hasn’t felt since back then. 

They call him cold and heartless. 

They call him strict and emotionless. 

They don’t call him her son. 

It’s like she’s reading about some other boy, about someone that truly isn’t Edward. How could they vilify him so much? He was just a boy, he died so early, and people had the gall to still desecrate his name and image centuries after his last breath. 

Was he truly to be the villain if he lived longer?

Had she failed as a mother in more ways than she originally anticipated?

What did this mean?

Before she realized what she was doing, Jane was on her feet, moving upstairs. She moved past Anne’s room, past Anna’s, past Cathy’s and Katherine’s and her own, straight to...

“Jane?”

The sleep in Catherine of Aragon’s voice made it clear that Jane’s sudden barging in had woken her up. Maria, who had been visiting overnight, sat up from her side of the bed with a curious look. 

“Jane, what’s wrong? It’s 2 AM-“ Catherine starts, looking at the clock, but her attention is immediately diverted to the article that Jane thrusts in front of her. 

Catherine turns on the nightstand, wincing at the light, before she looks down at the magazine. Maria reads over her shoulder, gaze going from curious to angry to sympathy. 

“Oh, Jane-“

“They said he would have been a monster,” Jane growls out with anger she hasn’t expressed in decades. “They said he would have turned.... h-he would have turned out like him. Like Henry.”

“He wouldn’t have, Jane,” Catherine tries, but Jane is seeing red, a rare display of raw emotion from the third queen. 

“Do they even know what they’re doing when they write this shite?” Jane asks, voice a harsh whisper. “Do they understand that he was a child, that’s what he is. He wasn’t even a young adult when he died, he was a child. And they just... they try to murder his reputation for what?” She shakes her head, shaking with anger. “They take my boy and they make him-“

“Into a monster,” Catherine finishes the sentence. Jane stops and turns to half-face Catherine. Maria has gently hugged the girl from behind, but even in the pale moonlight Jane can tell that no tears will be shed by the first. “I can relate to that. Then turning your child into a monster.”

It suddenly strikes Jane why she came here in the first place. 

It calms Jane down a bit, starting to catch her breath. “I didn’t-“

“I know,” Catherine says, understanding and soft. “I know. But I think you also did know, in a way. I think you understood.”

Jane looks away in shame, and Catherine chuckles. 

“So theyre trying to push this narrative on little Eddie, huh?” Catherine asks, tone a bit more playful and amused than it probably should be. “He was brilliant, from what I heard from Cathy.”

“He was,” Jane says, tone resolute. “He absolutely was. And he would have been if he hadn’t-“

“He had Cathy,” Catherine replies, giving the magazine to Maria to read through fully. “He wouldn’t have. He loved her.”

Jane nods. “Like she was his mother, yeah.”

A moment of silence, then Jane continues. 

“I don’t blame him. Cathy is... and incredible woman.”

“She is,” Catherine agrees. “And she raised him well, when you couldn’t. Same with Elizabeth, same with my Mary.”

Catherine gently stands, moving to Jane and pulling her into a hug. 

“It’s okay, love. They’re going to do this regardless of what we do. It will be okay.”

“It all sounds like a fanfic or something,” Maria mumbles, which gets Jane’s confused attention. 

“A what?”

“What Maria is trying to say,” Catherine butts in, “is that this is all someone’s theory. That it’s not something that people actually believe, it’s just something that someone’s made up.”

“Which means the narrative hasn’t set in yet,” Maria says. “You don’t have centuries of so-called “history” to dismantle. You’ve got a few theories and short stories to debunk.”

“It’s a good thing,” Catherine assures. “People are already on your side. If you’d like, tomorrow, we can draw up a plan on how to respond.” Catherine smiles, gently pulling back to fix up Jane’s hair and grabs a tissue to dry Jane’s eyes. “I’m sure Cathy and the others would love to pitch in. Most of them knew him, too, after all, and Anne has Elizabeth’s account from the history books. It’s human.” Catherine leans forward, kissing Jane’s head. “And I’m sure it will be enough. With all of us together taking on this rather new theory... I’m sure we can nip it in the bud.”

Jane smiles at that, relief clear on her face. “I... thank you, Catherine. Thank you so much.”

The Spanish Queen smiles and nods, gently leading Jane not to her own room, but to Katherine’s. 

“Go on then, Kat is a good cuddle and I’m sure you could use some,” Catherine quips, smiling as Jane gets as close to Kat as possible, tucking both of them in. Katherine, in her sleep, mumbles something and curls into Jane more. Jane chuckles, smoothing out Kat’s hair as she gets comfortable. 

Catherine steps out of the room, leaving the duo to their slumber, and quietly returns to her own room, where Maria was still reading. 

“This is rubbish,” Maria mumbles as Catherine moves into the bed. “It’s the same author as the one that wrote that hit piece on Mary the other day.”

“It wasn’t really,” Catherine says with a sigh. “That was far more factual. She didn’t put in her thoughts until the end, and I think she made some good points. Whatever drivel she wrote about Edward, though, is just... well, I don’t know what else to call it but rubbish.”

Maria nods, tossing the magazine onto the floor and letting Catherine curl up. 

“We’ll make sure it doesn’t get farther than it is,” Catherine says with a nod. “I’ve no doubt in my mind that this will all be sorted once we get everyone together in the morning.”

Maria nods. “You’re a very good person, Catalina.”

Catherine chuckles. “He doesn’t deserve to be fed to the wolves. He was a child. And, if I’m being honest... I don’t know if my Mary would agree with me,but I don’t want Edwards legacy to be tarnished more than it has been.” 

Maria sighs, murmuring in Spanish, and Catherine has to laugh before she simply burrows her head in the crook of Maria’s neck. 

“Quiet you,” Catherine quips. “Bedtime, or I’m kicking you back to the living room.” 

“Can’t believe you thought I was going to sleep on the couch after a full day of dealing with the cousin’s antics,” Maria mumbles, but she settles and Catherine soon falls into a light sleep. 

She dreams of Mary. Of what could have been. 

Of how she didn’t have the chance Jane currently does. 

Of how, tomorrow, she will change that. 


End file.
